A growing number of states are looking to cut back on jobless benefits to minimize the increase in unemployment taxes businesses pay. State officials are concerned that these tax hikes could deter companies from hiring.
Some states, such as Florida and Arkansas, are debating reducing the number of weeks that the jobless can collect state unemployment. Others, including Indiana, want to limit the number of people eligible for benefits. Get the full story »
Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Co., presenting the new Ford Sync system in Germany earlier this month. (Gallup/Getty)
United Auto Workers President Bob King went on the attack at the lucrative pay package of the Ford Motor CEO, saying it was ‘morally wrong’ that Mulally received stock worth about $54.5 million from the company.
“I think Alan Mulally is a great CEO, but I don’t think any human being in the world deserves that much money. I think it’s outrageous,“ said King, speaking to reporters during a three-day union convention in Detroit. King’s remarks come as the union prepares for the first set of labor negotiations with U.S. automakers since the bankruptcies at General Motors and Chrysler Group. Get the full story »
Groupon Inc.’s president and chief operating officer, Rob Solomon, is stepping down as the Internet company remakes itself from a small start-up to a major online player.
The move comes as Groupon, which offers group discount deals, has experienced explosive growth. Solomon, a Silicon Valley veteran who joined the company a year ago, said in an interview he is stepping down partly because “Groupon got really big.” When he joined the company a year ago, the company had 200 employees, but today it has some 6,000, he said. Get the full story »
The pharmacy of a Walgreen's store in New York. (JB Reed/Bloomberg)
Buoyed by an increase in the number of prescriptions it fills, Walgreen Co. this morning reported a 10 percent increase in its second-quarter profits.
The Deerfield-based drug store giant said earnings grew to $739 million, or 80 cents a share, compared to $669 million, or 68 cents a share, in the quarter ended Feb. 28. Revenues rose 8.9 percent to $18.5 billion.
Still, the price of Walgreen Co. shares fell $2.76, or 6.6 percent, to $39.21 a share on Tuesday because some analysts were unhappy with the company’s profit margins and higher expenses in the quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses jumped 8 percent in the quarter to $4.1 billion. Get the full story »
Citing unfulfilled promises from Alabama Aircraft Industries Inc. to finish up work on four military jets, Boeing Co. is asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge for some financial reassurance, requesting that the court put its $8 million claim against the Birmingham aircraft maintenance company ahead of other major creditors. Get the full story »
The last big U.S. airline holdout to the Wi-Fi revolution, United Continental Holdings Inc., unveiled plans to wire 200 domestic aircraft for satellite-based broadband service starting next year.
United Continental said Tuesday it had signed a letter of intent with LiveTV, a subsidiary of JetBlue Airways, to provide inflight Internet service on more than 200 Continental Boeing 737 and 757 jets already equipped for DirecTV service. Get the full story »
General Motors Co. says it will sell all of its shares of a certain type in Ally Financial Inc., its former finance arm, for $1 billion. The shares to be sold represent all of Ally’s Series A preferred stock outstanding, the automaker said Tuesday. Get the full story »
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a settlement deal Google hammered out with publishers over its controversial Google Books archive, saying the proposed agreement went too far in giving Google control over the digitalization of books. Get the full story »
Cicero town President Larry Dominick (center) talks with a staff member (left) as Cicero project manager Craig Pesek adjusts a drawing at a Cicero town meeting in January. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
By Joseph Ruzich | A beverage company planning to build a 600,000-square-foot distribution center on the former Sportsman’s Park racetrack site in Cicero will receive $9.7 million in tax increment financing funds, according to an ordinance approved by Cicero trustees at Tuesday’s town board meeting.
Cicero officials said Wirtz Beverage Illinois, one of the state’s largest beverage-alcohol distributors and part of the family-run corporation that owns the Chicago Blackhawks, will receive the funds from the town through rebating a portion of the company’s taxes. Get the full story »
Apple Inc. will stick to plans to roll out its newest iPad on Friday to 25 more markets, including France and the United Kingdom, even as it fails to meet the high demand for the gadget in the United States.
In affirming its international plans, Apple did not provide any hard figures for U.S. sales since the newest iPad, a thinner and faster version that features two cameras for video chat, was introduced March 11. Prices start at $499. Get the full story »
CME Group Inc. would find it hard to counter Deutsche Boerse AG’s takeover bid for NYSE Euronext because of the steep breakup fee on the cross-Atlantic deal, CME’s executive chairman said. Get the full story »
(Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)
Discover Financial Services reported a $465 million quarterly profit on Tuesday and raised its quarterly dividend by 4 cents per share, as losses on bad loans fell.
The credit card lender and processing network earned 84 cents per share in its fiscal first quarter, ended February 28. That compared with a year-ago loss of $104 million, or 22 cents per share. Get the full story »
Bank of Montreal aims to more than quintuple annual earnings from its U.S. operations, following the $4.1 billion acquisition of U.S. lender Marshall & Ilsley. Get the full story »
